44,687 research outputs found

    'Catastrophic Failure' Theories and Disaster Journalism: Evaluating Media Explanations of the Black Saturday Bushfires

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    In recent decades, academic researchers of natural disasters and emergency management have developed a canonical literature on 'catastrophe failure' theories such as disaster responses from from US emergency management services (Drabek, 2010; Quarantelli, 1998) and the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (Perrow, 1999). This article examines six influential theories from this field in an attempt to explore why Victoria's disaster and emergency management response systems failed during Australia's Black Saturday bushfires. How well, if at all, are these theories understood by journalists, disaster and emergency management planners, and policy-makers? On examining the Country Fire Authority's response to the fires, as well as the media's reportage of them, we use the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires as a theory-testing case study of failures in emergency management, preparation and planning. We conclude that journalists can learn important lessons from academics' specialist knowledge about disaster and emergency management responses

    Choreography, controversy and child sex abuse: Theoretical reflections on a cultural criminological analysis of dance in a pop music video

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    This article was inspired by the controversy over claims of ‘pedophilia!!!!’ undertones and the ‘triggering’ of memories of childhood sexual abuse in some viewers by the dance performance featured in the music video for Sia’s ‘Elastic Heart’ (2015). The case is presented for acknowledging the hidden and/or overlooked presence of dance in social scientific theory and cultural studies and how these can enhance and advance cultural criminological research. Examples of how these insights have been used within other disciplinary frameworks to analyse and address child sex crime and sexual trauma are provided, and the argument is made that popular cultural texts such as dance in pop music videos should be regarded as significant in analysing and tracing public perceptions and epistemologies of crimes such as child sex abuse

    Experiencing higher education, transitions and the graduate labour market: the non-traditional student perspective: book of abstracts

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    In the last three courses 2014-15, 2015-15 and 2016-17, Integration of Contents and English has been implemented at the Faculty of Sciences of Education in University of Malaga (Spain), specifically in Primary Education Studies. The initiative corresponds to the continuity of bilingualism that in the Spanish Education Normative and Curriculum begins with Child schools, continuing in Secondary and High Schools. Consequently, Education Faculty is involved in the preparation of future professional teachers, who not only will be an interpreter teacher with a degree in languages, but with knowledge and content related to the different areas of learning and teaching. That is the reason why Social Sciences Education area is researching in using CLIL and sharing didactic strategies like poster seasons among classroom groups or Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) within different city Institutions as Malaga Museum Picasso, developing the need of being students and citizens part of the scaffolding learning in Higher Studies. Therefore, internationalizing territories in the University, city/town and its Museums will be a goal when talking about innovation for internationalizing employability and entrepreneurship.Universidad de MĂĄlaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional AndalucĂ­a Tech

    Reflections on a 'virtual' practice development unit: changing practice through identity development

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    Aims. This paper draws together the personal thoughts and critical reflections of key people involved in the establishment of a ‘virtual’ practice development unit of clinical nurse specialists in the south of England. Background. This practice development unit is ‘virtual’ in that it is not constrained by physical or specialty boundaries. It became the first group of Trust-wide clinical nurse specialists to be accredited in the UK as a practice development unit in 2004. Design and methods. The local university was asked to facilitate the accreditation process via 11 two-hour audio-recorded learning sessions. Critical reflections from practice development unit members, leaders and university staff were written 12 months after successful accreditation, and the framework of their content analysed. Findings and discussion. Practice development was seen as a way for the clinical nurse specialists to realize their potential for improving patient care by transforming care practice in a collaborative, interprofessional and evolutionary manner. The practice development unit provided a means for these nurses to analyse their role and function within the Trust. Roberts’ identity development model for nursing serves as a useful theoretical underpinning for the reflections contained in this paper. Conclusions. These narratives provide another example of nurses making the effort to shape and contribute to patient care through organizational redesign. This group of nurses began to realize that the structure of the practice development unit process provided them with the means to analyse their role and function within the organization and, as they reflected on this structure, their behaviour began to change. Relevance to clinical practice. Evidence from these reflections supports the view that practice development unit participants have secured a positive and professional identity and are, therefore, better able to improve the patient experience

    Transcending History’s Heavy Hand: The Future in Economic Action

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    Abstract This paper discusses sociological analyses of the formation and role of expectations in the economy. Recognition of the social constitution of expectations advances the understanding of economic action under conditions of uncertainty and helps to explain core features of modern capitalist societies. The range of applications of the analytical perspective is illustrated by closer examination of three core spheres of capitalist societies: consumption, investment, and innovation. To provide an idea of core challenges of the approach, three major research questions for the sociological analysis of expectations are presented.Zusammenfassung Wie lassen sich die Entstehung und die Rolle von Erwartungen in der Wirtschaft soziologisch analysieren? Erwartungen sind sozial konstituiert. Der Rekurs auf Erwartungen trĂ€gt zum VerstĂ€ndnis wirtschaftlichen Handelns unter Bedingungen von Unsicherheit und zum VerstĂ€ndnis charakteristischer WesenszĂŒge moderner kapitalistischer Gesellschaften bei. NĂ€here Betrachtungen von drei SphĂ€ren wirtschaftlicher AktivitĂ€t – Konsum, Investition und Innovation – verdeutlichen das breite Spektrum möglicher Anwendungen der Erwartungsperspektive in der Wirtschaftssoziologie. Die zentralen Herausforderungen fĂŒr die soziologische Analyse von Erwartungen werden anschließend anhand von drei wichtigen Forschungsfragen skizziert.Contents 1 Introduction 2 Uncertainty and the social constitution of expectations 3 Expectations in contemporary capitalism Consumption Investment Innovation 4 Questions and perspectives of an economic sociology of expectations Where do expectations come from? How do expectations spread and gain momentum? The moral economy of expectations 5 Conclusion Reference

    Another Theory is Possible: Dissident Voices in Theorising Europe

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    The article argues that dissident voices which attempt to theorise Europe differently and advocate another European trajectory have been largely excluded and left unheard in mainstream discussions over the past decade of scholarship and analysis. Dissident voices in European Union studies are those that seek to actively challenge the mainstream of the study of Europe. As all the contributors to the special issue make clear, there is a rich diversity of alternatives to mainstream thinking and theorising the EU on which to draw for different ways of theorising Europe. The introductory article briefly examines the discipline of mainstreaming, then surveys extent of polyphonic engagement in EU studies before setting out how the special issue contributors move beyond the mainstream. The article will argue the merits of more polyphonic engagement with dissident voices and differing disciplinary approach for the health and vitality of EU studies and the EU policy field itself. The article sets out the wide range of contributions which the special issue articles make to theorising the EU. It summarises the special issue argument that by allowing for dissident voices in theorising Europe another Europe, and another theory, is possible indeed probable

    Product Service System Innovation in the Smart City

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    Product service systems (PSS) may usefully form part of the mix of innovations necessary to move society toward more sustainable futures. However, despite such potential, PSS implementation is highly uneven and limited. Drawing on an alternate socio-technical perspective of innovation, this paper provides fresh insights, on among other things the role of context in PSS innovation, to address this issue. Case study research is presented focusing on a use orientated PSS in an urban environment: the Copenhagen city bike scheme. The paper shows that PSS innovation is a situated complex process, shaped by actors and knowledge from other locales. It argues that further research is needed to investigate how actors interests shape PSS innovation. It recommends that institutional spaces should be provided in governance landscapes associated with urban environments to enable legitimate PSS concepts to co-evolve in light of locally articulated sustainability principles and priorities

    Making sense of information systems failures

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    Information systems (IS) are used almost everywhere around us and we cannot even conceive of a world without computerised systems. IS support essential functions in most areas and levels of society. These include education, business, leisure, and medical and scientific areas. Moreover, IS add to the competitiveness of companies and support the continuous change that takes place in business and its environment. Literature frequently reports on Information systems that fail or are abandoned in many domains and in many countries. Often IS are seen by users as underperforming, failing to meet expectations and not delivering value to customers. In order to reduce IS failures numerous studies have been conducted resulting in solutions being offered to improve the situation. Post-project reviews are often used to learn from mistakes. Social sciences regularly use narrative analysis methods to analyse stories to understand the experiences of people in settings such as psychology and education. This study borrows from the social sciences and proposes the use of narrative analysis in investigating IS failure research. A case history was identified in which IS stakeholders were asked to share their experiences regarding the development and use of the IS. Three narrative analysis approaches were applied in this study to analyse the accounts of the stakeholders taking into account the perspectives of multiple user groups. This was done in order to study the thesis statement: narrative analysis methods can be useful to make sense of Information systems’ failures. A multi-perspective framework for analysing IS stakeholders’ accounts was constructed, during the study, which could be used by developers to gain insight from the users of previous systems in order to learn from mistakes for subsequent systems. It is shown in this qualitative study, where narrative approaches were followed to gather, analyse and interpret the rich, multi-voiced and incoherent stories of IS stakeholders, that each approach helps to make sense from the accounts of stakeholders in different ways and highlight important elements. It is shown that narrative analysis methods that were used in this study can produce deeper insights into the experience of involved stakeholders. The insights obtained from applying narrative methods can be used for internal learning within organisations as well as externally within the discipline. It is shown in this study that all voices must be heard; the small stories of stakeholders should also be taken into account when listening to users. Reading between the lines reveals information that cannot be ignored if IS are to be developed to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Indeed, systems become alive and take on a character of their own when the accounts are analysed on a deeper level and systems can therefore be designed in new ways that enable developers to address a wider set of constraints representing multiple groups of stakeholders. The contribution of this work is on more than one level. Information systems development practice can be influenced and enriched by gaining deeper insights that address the concerns of the diverse groups of stakeholders. The research methodology field of IS has also been impacted upon by the successful importing of methods from another domain and has thereby also given back to the discipline it has borrowed from. Narrative practice and theory can make use of the new insights gained in a new area of application, namely IS failures. The conclusion of this study is that narrative approaches and storytelling can be useful and applicable when investigating IS failures and improves the understanding of IS development and users’ concerns taking into account multiple perspectives of stakeholders

    Discourse Analysis: varieties and methods

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    This paper presents and analyses six key approaches to discourse analysis, including political discourse theory, rhetorical political analysis, the discourse historical approach in critical discourse analysis, interpretive policy analysis, discursive psychology and Q methodology. It highlights differences and similarities between the approaches along three distinctive dimensions, namely, ontology, focus and purpose. Our analysis reveals the difficulty of arriving at a fundamental matrix of dimensions which would satisfactorily allow one to organize all approaches in a coherent theoretical framework. However, it does not preclude various theoretical articulations between the different approaches, provided one takes a problem-driven approach to social science as one?s starting-point
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